The joints between adjoining wallboards routinely require finishing to create a wall surface which appears smooth and continuous. The initial finishing step comprises applying a layer of adhesive over the joint and partially embedding a layer of tape over the adhesive using a tool well known in the trade as a "Bazooka."
After initial application of adhesive and tape with the "Bazooka" or by hand, the tape is manually troweled or scraped to further embed the tape into the adhesive and force adhesive into the recessed joint. Simultaneously, excess adhesive, which was squeezed out at the sides of the tape, is reapplied over the outer surface of the tape and troweled to cover the tape and smooth out the joints so that the joint effectively disappears and becomes a flat and even continuation of the wallboards. This troweling process can be performed using various hand trowels disclosed in the prior art. Hand troweling, however, is a time consuming and laborious task.
To save time and labor compared to hand troweling, Carlson, U.S. Pat. No. 4,592,797, describes a tool which finishes joints after the initial layer of adhesive and tape have been applied. The Carlson tool performs the aforementioned hand troweling tasks with one pass or traverse of the tool along the length of the joint.
During the process of finishing the wall surface of a work area, workmen commonly finish the taping work using the "Bazooka" and only then use the tool described by Carlson to complete the finishing of all joints in the work area. Workmen usually apply the initial layer of tape and adhesive to each of the wallboard joints in the work area before putting down the "Bazooka." Then, the workmen finish each of the joints in the work area by traversing the length of each joint using the tool described by Carlson to provide a smooth finished surface.
Using the tool described by Carlson in the manner described above provides a finished surface superior to manual troweling and finishing. It has been discovered, however, that an unexpected improvement in surface finish results by traversing the joint with a tool such as described by Carlson immediately after the adhesive and tape have been initially applied using the "Bazooka." However, from a time and motion standpoint, sequentially using the "Bazooka" and the tool described by Carlson at each joint before going to the next would be an inefficient use of time.